Optical Networking: Recent Developments, Issues, and Trends

The year 2002 has brought a turn around in the optical networking. Several technologies that were hot until last year are no longer so.
Beginning with networking trends and recent DWDM records, a sample of recent optical networking products and applications will be presented. Key technological developments that made optical networking a hot topic will be explained.
Upcoming optical technologies will also be briefly described. The role of 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard in unifying the local and wide area networks will be presented.
While Ethernet is trying to replace SONET/SDH in the carrier networks, SONET itself is changing to better meet the new demands of data traffic. The features that make Next Generation SONET a tough competitor for Ethernet in the carrier networks will be explained.
The latest debate on all-optical switching along with the introduction of IP control plane will be presented. Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Multiprotocol Lambda Switching, and Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching (GMPLS) will be explained. New standards activities to change IP protocols to enable optical networking will be presented.